


Better Now

by Arithese



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Broken Bones, Bullies, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Foster System, Gen, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Stitches, Trauma, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 17:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: It was a stupid mistake really, honestly so stupid.It might as well be the bad karma finally catching up to him, after all the horrible things he had done in his life, and maybe it was just his punishment for the type of person he was in general. Or maybe, something Rosa would probably call it, it was bad luck.





	Better Now

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Better Now by Davina Michelle.

It was a stupid mistake really, honestly so stupid. 

It might as well be the bad karma finally catching up to him, after all the horrible things he had done in his life, and maybe it was just his punishment for the type of person he was in general. Or maybe, something Rosa would probably call it, it was bad luck. He preferred his own stupid fault probably. 

Because it was his own fault, he decided to climb into the tree. It was a habit for him, something that comforted him. High up was where he was safe, and where he could still see everything, or most, coming. He liked to get some place high when he wanted to be alone, a place to just think. 

Ever since he came to the house now almost 3 months ago he had needed it. He loved his siblings, he loved his parents… foster parents, but it was sometimes just too overwhelming, too many people, too many noises, too little privacy. It was overwhelming to him, as much as he loved it. 

But like he said, it was dumb luck. The branch was rotten, fragile, and he stepped on it without thinking, a barking dog that caught his attention, and he tripped. He let out a yell, feeling gravity take over and dragging him down, _fast_. his vision blurred and he felt his hands reach out for something. 

Instead he felt his wrist hit something hard, and he couldn’t even comprehend the snapping sound he heard at the moment. His body twisted, and before he knew it he crashed on the ground, the wind knocking all the air from his lungs. He lay there for a moment, just wheezing and desperately trying to pull in enough air. 

“Shit.” He mutters, blinking a few times. Pain was starting to make itself known, spreading through his left arm, his chest. He groans, glancing at his wrist. The skin on his wrist was broken, bleeding just slightly, but that wasn’t what really mattered right now. It was the fact that his wrist was _already_ starting to swell. 

“Shit.” Billy cursed again, scrambling upwards. He winced, wrapping his right arm around his ribs and hissing. _Great_. So he was pretty sure his wrist was broken, and he probably bruised his ribs. He turned, sitting against the tree with his back and wincing slightly at the movement. 

He glances at his wrist, another curse already on his lips when he suddenly felt himself go cold all over. _Rosa and Victor_. His body seizes up with fear at the thought, and the curse is immediately forgotten. He whimpers, tears jumping in his eyes. His wrist was broken.. he needed to go to the hospital. 

Rosa and Victor would be furious.. this will cost them so much money. 

_What if they kick him out?_

He stills, eyes going wide before he could stop himself. Tears were burning in his eyes at the thought, _he didn’t want to leave_. _He liked it, he liked his siblings, he felt safe_. But they would surely kick him out if he came to them with such an injury right? It would cost them a fortune, the couldn’t afford it. 

So they'd just kick him out, say he wasn’t a good match, or maybe they would just lie and say he was a problem child… but was that truly a lie? 

*

*

*

It was late.. too late.. when he snuck into the house again. His wrist was still throbbing under his jacket, and he still felt a bit out of breath from the fall. It had been well over an hour since he had mustered enough courage, or perhaps willpower to stand up and get home.

“I was about to call you Billy.” Rosa announced her presence almost the moment he walked in, walking up to him with a smile on her face. The smile however almost immediately faltered when she saw him. “Billy, mi amour, what’s wrong?” _Of course Rosa would notice something was up_. 

Billy swallowed thickly. “Nothing I just.. I got a really bad headache, I think it’s the cold or something.” Rosa hisses through her teeth, sending him an empathetic look. 

“It has been going around school.” She nods, putting a gentle hand on his forehead. “And you do feel a bit clammy.” She muses, and Billy can do nothing but nod. 

“Could I uhm.. get something for the headache?” It would hopefully take the edge off, he couldn’t risk Rosa finding out about how much pain he was really in, or them figuring out he stole painkillers in the middle of the night, they’d immediately kick him out probably, I mean.. they would right? 

Billy mentally shook his head, not even hearing the response before Rosa hurried away, coming back a moment later with two pills and a glass of water. Billy took the pills with his right hand, putting them into his mouth before grabbing the glass, praying Rosa didn’t notice him not using his left arm. 

But Rosa just seemed worried, brushing back his damp hair with a smile on her face. 

“I’m heading to bed, is that okay?” He asks, standing there a bit awkwardly. Rosa nods. 

“Of course honey, get some rest. Let me know if you want to stay home tomorrow okay?” Rosa asks, and Billy swallows again, nodding. She pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head before Billy made his way up the stairs, dragging his feet and just wanting to collapse on the bed. 

Of course he couldn’t because Freddy was also already in his room. _Just great_. Billy mused, trying to be as quiet as possible. Maybe if he was quiet enough Freddy won’t-

“Dude did you hear Batman took down another gang in Gotham? Even Red Hood was there, it was so cool!” Freddy startled rambling enthusiastically and Billy winces slightly, _just great_. 

“You’re a superhero yourself Freddy.” Billy says but Freddy shakes his head. 

“That’s not the same and you know it Billy, Batman is.. Batman is human.. I mean I think. Is he human? he has no powers but he can-” Freddy stops himself as Billy climbs onto the bed, barely managing with just one hand. “Dude are you okay?” Freddy asks, and Billy turns his head to glance down at Freddy. 

“Just tired.” Billy muttered. Freddy stares for a moment, a suspicious look on his face. 

“Sure dude.” Freddy says. “I’ll try to be quiet.” He says genuinely and Billy frowns. 

“You don’t have to Freddy, I can listen.” Billy tries, and the little smile on Freddy’s face made him feel a lot better than he should. Freddy nods, starting to ramble again about how Batman had teamed up with the Red Hood to defeat another gang they had been hunting for months. 

And Billy found himself lulled to sleep as he rambled on. 

*

*

*

He felt _horrible_. 

That’s the only word he could find as he blinked his eyes open. Contrary to last night his head was actually hurting right now, which was definitely karma, and his wrist seemed to have grown twice the size of his other wrist. He groaned, forcing himself to sit up before Freddy would wake up. 

He was often the first one awake, a little habit he hadn’t been able to shake off so far but one that came from pure survival. 

He bit his tongue as he climbed out of the bed awkwardly, almost tripping twice on the way down before walking over to the bathroom. He hisses, locking the door behind him before taking a good look at his wrist. He almost puked at the sight of his wrist, wanting to cry and actually feeling tears burn. 

There wasn’t any bone sticking out or displaced as far as he could see, but he wasn’t superman after all, he had no x-ray vision, but his wrist was swollen, almost as if someone had pumped it full with air. And it was already turning blue and purple. Weird splotches of colour all over his wrist. 

“Shit.” He muttered, feeling a sob build up in his throat. “You really did it now Batson.” He muttered to himself. He gently touched his wrist, and he almost cried out from the pain it caused him. He bit his tongue, feeling blood pool in his mouth and he winced at the taste, and the fact that he just bit his tongue. 

He reached for the med kit, propping it open on the sink to look into it. He almost smiled bitterly as he saw the supplies in it, including a thick wrap. He reached for it with his right hand, taking it out. He knew he had to wrap his wrist with _something_ but he also knew it was going to hurt like a bitch. 

So he took a deep breath, taking a clean washcloth from the cabinet to bite down on before starting to wrap his wrist up. 

*

*

*

“Hey Batson!” Billy groaned softly, trying to ignore the shout. “Where’s your friend limpy, couldn’t keep up with you?” Brett laughed, but before Billy could retort he felt a hand between his shoulder plates, pushing him forwards. He let out a loud ‘oof’, pain flaring up in his ribs. 

He stumbled, causing Brett and Burke to laugh. 

“What’s up Batson, almost as unsteady on your feet as your fake brother?” Burke calls, and Billy whirls around, glaring at the bullies. 

“He’s not my fake brother assholes.” Billy hisses, immediately regretting it as Burke stalked forwards, grabbing a piece of his jacket. 

“What was that?” He threatened, but Billy didn’t feel like backing down at the moment, and he had no idea _why_. “You think your fake family is actually real?” 

“We’re more of a family than you could ever be.” Billy hisses, but it didn’t seem to faze the brothers at all. Instead Brett barks out a laugh. 

“Keep telling yourself that loser, they’ll put you on the streets again before you know it. Just like all the others did.” Billy paled slightly at the implication, _why_ did they know about that? They shouldn’t know about that. But he didn’t have long to think about it because before he could answer he felt himself shoved backwards. 

He let out a yell, stumbling on his feet and turning around just before he crashed to his knees. Instinct took over, and he threw his hands out, trying to catch his weight with his hands, and he realised his mistake just seconds too late. His weight crashed onto his wrists, including his _broken_ one, and he felt something shift, but he couldn’t hear anything. 

Not even his own scream registered. 

His entire body filled itself with pain, and his head swirled dangerously before everything went dark, and he crashed to the ground. 

*

*

*

“...sure I did? I...know what to… just saw his..” Billy groans softly, trying to focus on the conversation, but he could only understand bits and pieces, not enough to understand what the woman was talking about. There was a silence, a sigh. 

“You did the right thing.. these are all…” Billy almost cursed himself as the voices drifted again, before they suddenly stopped altogether. “He’s awake.” This time it was clearer, closer by. 

“Sweetie can you open your eyes?” He heard, the first voice again. He groans, not _wanting_ to open his eyes but finding himself trying nevertheless. Slowly he blinked his eyes open, wincing at the bright light above him. Immediately something seemed to stab his head, and he shut his eyes again. 

There was some sound, footsteps. “I turned down the light William, can you try again?” It was the first voice again, speaking to him with a soft voice. Against his better judgement he tried again, blinking his eyes open. The woman was right, and the lights were dimmed significantly, and he didn’t feel like he was being stabbed anymore. 

The woman next to him smiled brightly. “There you go.” She praised and Billy frowns. The woman was probably middle aged, short blonde hair and wearing a… Billy gapes slightly, eyes darting around but he quickly realised where he was. _A hospital_. He was in a freaking hospital. 

_Shit_. 

“Wha’ happ’ned?” He slurred slightly, wincing as his headache increased again. The other person in the room, a man, glanced at the woman. There was a moment of hesitation, as if they weren’t sure what to die, lie, tell the truth? 

“You were attacked by two bullies at school,” The man starts softly, giving him an empathetic look. Billy frowns, he remembered _that_. “When you fell down you landed on your wrist and passed out. You hit your head pretty hard, and we had to do surgery on your wrist to fix it.” Billy glances down at his wrist. 

There was a thick cast wrapped around his wrist, and he could feel a slight pain residing in his limb. 

“We had to insert a pin to hold together the bone, and you have a head wound on your head, so you have a couple of stitches.” He continues, and Billy frowns at the last part, gingerly lifting his good arm and touching the side of his head. Or rather, he tried to. There were bandages wrapped around his head. 

Billy could _heard_ the doctor continuing to talk, listing off what they had done to him while he was out, his broken ribs, several cuts and even some other stitches, but he couldn’t really pay attention when a sudden through struck him. 

“Rosa and Victor!” He suddenly exclaims, eyes going wide with fear. _Shit they would be so disappointed.. and not to mention the hospital cost_. 

“Who?” The man asks softly, and Billy whips his head towards the man. 

“Rosa a-... my p-parents.” He swallowed thickly. “Shit, this is going to cost them a fortune, I need to-” 

“William.” The man stops him, with a kind yet sad look on his face. Billy falls silent, not even having the energy to scowl at his full name, a name he had come to hate. “Your parents aren’t here, and they can’t hurt you anymore.” 

_That_ managed to get his attention, and he frowned. 

“Hurt me?” He asks softly, and the man nods softly. 

“You’re safe here, you don’t have to worry anymore.” The man, he didn’t even know his name yet, adds. Billy shakes his head, whimpering softly at the pain it caused him. 

“They didn’t hurt me.” Billy snaps, but he can feel his mind clouding with shock, _numbing_ him. The man in front of him, and Billy finally manages to focus on the name card on his chest, _Richard_, looks at him with pity. The look of pity that Billy hates so much. 

“William-” 

“Billy.” Billy shoots back with a frown. Richard stops for a moment. 

“Billy.” He repeats. “You don’t have protect them anymore. You’re safe.” 

“They didn’t hurt me!” Billy snaps again, louder this time. “Where are they?” He could hear desperation seeping into his voice. 

“Billy I know this is hard to believe but-” 

“Shut up.” Billy retorts, throwing off his blanket. He ripped at the cord around his finger, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up. He staggered for a second but quickly regained his footing. His legs still shook under him, but he ignored it, forcing them to carry him to the door. 

But he before he could reach the door he was stopped, a hand wrapping around his wrist. He whirled around, flinching away from the touch. Billy cradled his wrist close to his chest, and he would’ve laughed at the irony as his broken arm protected his unbroken arm, but right now it was anything but funny. 

“Don’t touch me.” Billy whispers, taking a hesitant step back but he quickly bumped into the wall behind him. _He was only giving him more proof, only more suspicions that Rosa and Victor were abusing him_. Billy could feel tears jump in his eyes at the realisation. _He kept screwing shit up_. 

“Can you come back to the bed please? I won’t touch you, I promise.” Richard spoke softly, and Billy _hated _it. 

“They aren’t hurting me.” Billy tried again, but Richard clearly didn’t believe him. Billy sighed defeatedly, hanging his head and shuffling back to the bed. For the next 15 minutes he let Richard ramble on about what was going to happen right now, checking his injuries carefully to avoid scaring him. 

Billy let him, feeling himself zone out but being too lazy to zone back in. 

He didn’t listen to anything Richard said, and he doubted he could get himself to listen even if he wanted to. He just felt too disconnected to do so, as if he wasn’t in his own body anymore. He was a spectator watching from above, not even feeling anything in his own body as Richard checked him over. 

And when Richard put a gentle hand on his shoulder, he flinched. 

_Only giving him more reason to suspect that Rosa and Victor were abusing him_. 

*

*

*

Billy could only stare numbly at the documents in front of him, feeling tears burn in his eyes but his limbs heavy with _something_. Something that didn’t want him to move, or do _anything_ right now. He just stared at the documents, eyes brushing over the information on it, his name, his age, and his injuries. 

There were pictures, just a random mannequin that could be coloured in. His ribs were highlighted, his wrist, the side of his head. But those could be explained, he did that to himself, he knew that, even if they didn’t. Those weren’t the only injuries he had to worry about right now. 

Because his back had been highlighted as well, his ankle, two of his fingers, and even his other wrist had been highlighted. 

“We are pulling up your records as we speak Billy, but I wanted to ask you if you could explain these to me.” The case worker in front of him spoke, one he had never met before. Audrey she had introduced herself as. She wasn’t particularly young but her smile was comforting, even if nothing else about this situation was. 

Billy stayed silent, staring at the paper. Audrey sighs. 

“Billy we just want to help you okay?” Audrey tries. “How about we go through them one by one, will that be okay with you?” 

_Not like you’ll believe me_, but Billy shrugs. Audrey smiled encouragingly. 

“Okay let’s start with your current injuries, your wrist.” She taps his left wrist on the picture. “How did you get this?” 

“I fell.” Billy mutters. Audrey takes out some more pictures, and Billy knew he was looking at his own wrist, before the cast had been put on. 

“Billy these marks show that your wrist had been broken before today. When you fell you had already broken it.” She tells him calmly but Billy shook his head. 

“No I fell yesterday, from a tree.” Billy clarifies, and Audrey glances at him. He knew what she was thinking, _you don’t have to lie, _or rather; _please don’t lie. _But it was the truth. 

“Okay.” She whispers, moving her pen towards his ribs. “Your ribs were hurt by the same accident?” He nods numbly, and she glances at him for a moment before moving towards his head. 

“We know you got the wound from the fall at school, but there are many old injuries we can’t account for just yet.” She trails towards his back. “Billy we found pretty bad scars on your back, they looked like whip marks. Can you… can you tell me how you got those?” She asks, and Billy can’t help it, he tears up. 

He can feel thick tears roll down his cheeks as memories start flooding back in. 

The pain he felt, the fear, how helpless he was at _that _house, and how he couldn’t do anything. He could take it, but _she_ couldn’t. She wasn’t his sister, foster system, he refused to call any of them that, but she was close to being, and she was just so innocent, he could take the lashes. 

Until it was a little warmer outside so he could run away with her. 

“Billy did your parents do this to you?” Billy snaps his head up, feeling more tears spill over. Audrey was silent, allowing Billy to calm down, silent sobs dying down slowly. He rubs at the tears with his uninjured hand. 

“Rosa and Victor never hurt me,” Billy insists. 

“Billy-” Audrey tries but Billy shakes his head. He was _done_. He just wanted to go home, and-... he stopped himself, would he have a home after all this trouble? 

“No you don’t understand,” Billy starts, shaking off his last thought. He just had to focus on clearing Victor’s and Rosa’s name right now. “These are old… from before I was with Victor and Rosa.” 

_That_ seemed to silence Audrey for a moment, and she reels back slightly before understanding seems to dawn down on her. 

“Foster kid.” She states, and Billy nods tearily. “And I suppose the records my colleague is collecting will tell me the same thing?” 

“I’ve only been with them for 3 months, those scars are years old.” Billy whispers, hugging himself tightly. “But you won’t find them in my record, I never reported them.” 

“Why not?” There it was, a question he had asked himself so often, even more since coming to Rosa and Victor. 

“I don’t know.” Billy whispers, not daring to meet Audrey’s eyes. “I deserved it… and it’s _normal_.. right?” The word felt like a stab to his gut. “And I was scared.. I could handle it, but what if the next home was worse? It was easier to run away.” Audrey took a deep breath, hands folding over each other. 

“It wasn’t,” She breathes out. “But I’m not here to tell you that, that’s not my job. And as much as I want to help you, I’m not qualified to do this, but I can help you set this right, _if_ you’re speaking the truth that is, but that’s not up to me to decide.” Billy could feel an ounce of relief fill him. 

There was a way to clear their names? 

“What can I do?” Billy whispers, wiping at his eyes. 

“I want to go through the rest of your injuries, they are old, at least older than a year, and if you were indeed not with the Vasquez family then that can be cleared up. There are no fingerprints on your wrist, that will also help your case. There is someone else interviewing your foster parents, and siblings right now. They will most likely come to the same conclusion.” 

Billy swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the _most likely_ part in the sentence, trying to trick himself into thinking that she only said that to be safe, to be sure she didn’t give him false hope. Audrey still looks at him as her pen trails to his wrists, and he unconsciously shifted his gaze to them in real life. 

There were discolorations, slightly lighter from the scars. Billy swallows thickly. 

“Rope burns,” Billy almost squeaks out, throat closing up on him. “I was eleven and-” Billy trails off, shaking his head slightly. Audrey seems to understand he was _done_ talking about it, trailing the pen to another part as they continued. 

*

*

*

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” The man, Marco, asks, but Audrey nods. 

“Totally, Billy cleared up a lot of confusion, and his story checked out with his history in the foster care. The injuries, save for his current ones, were all old, and had to be sustained before coming to the Vasquez family. His behaviour all comes from his past abuse.”

“And the parents seemed super loving, there was nothing but love and concern from their side. They were more concerned about William’s wellbeing, than the threat of being under an investigation. They have no history of drugs or alcohol, and they have had talks with William's case worker about his withdrawn behaviour before. It has all been documented.” Another woman continues. 

Audrey glances as the woman, Jessica, talks about Rosa and Victor. She had been the one to interview them. 

“The other kids were all taken care off. One of their sons, Freddy Freeman, has a disability and doctors said at least one of them went with him when he had to go to the hospital. They are actively helping their oldest daughter, Mary Bromfield, with picking the right University, even all the way in California if she wants. There is no fear or discomfort from being in the house or with the parents.” Jessica continues. 

“What about his current injuries?” Marco asks, glancing at Aubrey instead. 

“He fell out of a tree, we even sent out someone to check and there were broken branches there, showing signs that they had only been recently broken, his story checks out.” Audrey says, but the man shakes his head. 

“So why didn’t he tell Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez? He broke his wrist yesterday, and I don’t think he would’ve told anyone if the incident at school hadn’t exposed him.” The person said, and Audrey frowns. 

“I don’t think he wouldn’t but Rosa and Victor had no idea either,” She says. “He didn’t tell because he was afraid of being kicked out, and can you really blame him after everything he’s been through? He has seen 31 families in just 10 years, he’s not used to staying somewhere long.” 

“Yes and of those 31 families he ran away from 23 of them.” The man pointed out, but Audrey shook his head. 

“Only after being rejected by so many others, and when he was old enough to actually run away and make it,” Audrey shoots back. “He was afraid it would happen again, so he tried to hide his injuries because for once he didn’t want to leave them.” There was absolutely no hesitation in her words. 

She was sure of everything she was saying, believed Billy and trusted the records. 

The man sighs, “I trust your judgement Audrey, let them in.” Audrey immediately brightened, nodding quickly. She glanced through the glass once more time, feeling her heart ache slightly at the sight of Billy being there alone, even unaware that they were on the other side of the glass as it only went one way. 

Audrey took off, rushing to the entrance door where Rosa and Victor stood, waiting anxiously. 

“You can see him.” She announces, slightly out of breath, but that was enough for Rosa and Victor, brightened up and immediately walking into the room when one of the officers guarding it opened it. Billy looked up with a defeated gaze, surely expecting someone else, at least not them. 

But he immediately jumped from the chair. “Rosa! Victor!” He cries out, rushing over to the two. Rosa opens her arms and without hesitation Billy practically crashes into her. He lets out a loud sob, crumbling in Rosa’s embrace. He cries, melting in the hug as Victor joins as well, crying uncontrollably. 

“‘m sorry, ‘m so sorry.” Billy cries, but Rosa shakes her head, brushing through Billy’s hair. 

“Don’t be, you did nothing wrong,” Rosa whispers, pressing a kiss to Billy’s forehead. “We love you so much honey, we aren’t going to kick you out Billy, not over a broken arm, or ever.” She continues to murmur, and for once Billy believed her. 

Audrey smiles at the sight, glancing as the other two joined her in the room. 

“Do we need more proof that they aren’t hurting Billy?” Audrey asks, and Marco sighs. 

“Understand why I want to be absolutely certain here, there are too many cases where we get this wrong.” He says, and Victor glances up with Rosa. The woman never let go of Billy, holding him close as they turned to the other three adults. “But I agree with the social worker here, I see no reason to keep William from the Vasquez family.” 

And that was the most important thing they needed, the main doctor and the social worker both agreeing on Billy’s safety. Audrey nods, turning to Victor and Rosa. 

“The OCY has already been called for consultation, and they checked your records with the ChildLine staff, there are no previous incidents, so you can go home now. The social worker at your home will be notified and she will go home when you get home.” She explains, and Rosa nods knowingly, squeezing Billy softly. 

Audrey steps forwards. “I’m really sorry about the whole situation but-” 

“Don’t be,” Rosa shook her head. “It wasn’t ideal but I feel a lot better knowing how strict you are with reporting suspected child abuse. Lord knows there are too many kids who need it, and that there are too many kids who were actually abused but were never reported. So thank you for looking after him.” 

Audrey smiled, nodding. 

“Of course,” Audrey says, glancing at Billy for a quick second before going back to Rosa. “Take care of him.” She says, leaving the room. 

After filing out all the relevant paperwork, unfortunately including a follow-up inspection whether Billy was truly safe in the home, they went home. 

“BILLY!” Darla shouted in excitement, barrelling straight into Billy. The older boy wheezes as his ribs are jarred at the movement. 

“Hey Darla.” Billy whispers, putting his right arm on her to create a little bit of distance between them. Not because he didn’t want to be close to her, but because his ribs were still hurting him, now even more so. And at the same time, he needed that contact right now, as it kept him grounded. 

“You absolute idiot.” Freddy spews, the only warning he got really before his immediate younger brother wrapped an arm around him, loose enough so that it didn’t hurt him, but tight enough to feel like it grounded him, enough to ease his raging nerves. Billy whimpered unwillingly, burying his face in the embrace. 

Freddy’s crutch cluttered against his side lightly but neither of them cared as Freddy embraced him with two arms instead. He just held him there, neither of them caring about the audience they no doubt had. 

And they would’ve stayed there for hours likely if Rosa hadn’t interrupted. They all ended on the couch, opting for ordering a few pizzas instead of cooking, or eating at the table. Billy ended up snuggled in between Rosa and Freddy, a box with his favourite pizza in front of him, eating it absently.

Eventually he ended up leaning against Rosa’s shoulder, curled up tightly with an icepack pressed against his hurt ribs, slightly out of it from the pain medication the hospital had given him. The rest of the family had already left, Victor currently gone to put Darla to bed and check on the rest. 

Billy knew they left to give him some space. 

“You know we’re going to have to talk about your past, right honey?” Rosa whispers suddenly, but Billy doesn’t move, staring ahead and focusing on Rosa’s fingers carting through his hair. Billy takes a breath. 

“Yeah I know.” He had known he had to eventually talk about it, especially once he knew he wanted to stay with the Vasquez family, but he didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to talk about his trauma. He just wanted to forget it, he wanted his family to think he was the same person as they had met. 

I mean he still was… but it was still different. 

“Not now though, and you don’t have to talk to us if you don’t want to. But I want you to talk to _someone_, you’re hurting mijo.” Rosa’s fingers softly pulled at a knot in his hair, and Billy almost cried at the way Rosa untangled it, so full of love, and care. And it was such a small thing, so silly. 

“Not now Billy, if you’re ready.” Rosa continues to whisper, and Billy didn’t know if it was to herself or to him. Billy nodded softly, closing his eyes. It was silent for a moment before Rosa slowly started to hum, before she started to sing softly. It was barely audible, barely more than the initial humming. 

But Billy could feel himself relaxing even more, and he snuggled closer to her side, and slowly he felt himself drifting off. 

Safe at home. 

**Author's Note:**

> So I tried to get it as close as real life as possible.. but you know me, I like drama.


End file.
